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Thinking of Building a scrubber

I have a 60gal tank that was setup about 6 months ago. I have a reef octopus BF 2000 HOB skimmer running along with just live rock, 2 hydor power heads and a heater. Have always had issues with algae and small spots of cyano growing, and my corals never really looked as great as they should. After reading about this, it really looks like the solution I am looking for.

I was recently thinking about adding a sump with cheat to help with nutrient export as it seems to be my main issue, until I came across this on RC forums. Area under my tank is really small and I dont have drilled overflows on my tank. The area I have to work with inside my cabinet is about 10" high and 8 to 10" deep and the lenght of the tank, 48". Think I could build an algae scrubber in this area?

I see the size is based on feeding, ive had to cut down on this drastically because of issues. Would like to be able to feed them flakes twice a day and no more than a cube of froze a few times a week. I would like some help with the build if possible. Screen sizing, flow, and lighting.

The first thing i need to plan is the overflow. I'm thiniking of getting one of these and building a box to fit under the stand.

They come in 300ghp, 600ghp, and up models. would this work and what would be the best size to use? I was thinking this overflow would be attached directly to pvc that would hold the waterfall type scrubber, then a return pump back to the DT in the sump.

Oh sweet, i see there is an upflow scrubber now too! would this be better than the waterfall? could i just pump water into an plexiglass box, and just have an outlet at the other end that goes back to the aquarium. then just add the airstone and pump, with the media hanging down in the box.

I'd say if there were a situation that could be best solved by an upflow scrubber, yours might be it. If you are going to be building something anyway, you can avoid the overflow, return pump, and cabinet space issues by building an upflow. Look at some of the UAS scrubber installations, and see if you would want one of them on your tank...http://algaescrubber.net/forums/foru...crubbers-(UAS)

I really don't want anything inside my DT or more stuff hanging on the back. Seems most of the up flow ones are this way. Think im going to build a sump so I can put my heater and ATO down there. Think I will go with the waterfall design using a 300ghp or 600ghp overflow. Not sure which would be best for the scrubber and what size screen I would need. I will measure the area to work with today and see what size sump I can put in there. Once I get a good plan I can purchase the items and get some pics of the setup going.

I love that little magnetic hang on glass scrubber you build. Are you still selling thoese. That would be perfect for my 10g nano project after I get this tank in order.

After reading and reading over the forums, I have decided to go with an LED above the tank waterfall scrubber build. I will build a plexiglass box, pump water to it and let it drain back to the tank. I was thinking of making it one sided 6"x9" (same size as the heatsink) with 4 3W 660n led's and one blue led, 5 total. The pump will need to be about 210 to 250 ghp including the head loss. Should support 2 cubes a day feeding.

I dont want it too extremely bright that i lights up the entire wall. Was thinking of painting the ouside of the enclosure black to block some of the light.

here's the design tho. Where there's elbo's, there needs to be t's so that you can clean the screens. Figured this out after i built it. duh and feel like an idiot, but i'll fix it when I get some more time, then it should be just what everyone wants.